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Lena Dunham, the creator of HBO series Girls makes one big innuendo of a political ad to get out the vote for Obama because apparently he deflowered her or something.

In it, Dunham rambles like she's taken too much Adderall. It has a very creepy Generation Instagram feel to it and the music reminds me somehow of those Mac vs. PC ads. Just when we get to the point where the constant run on sentences and bad jump cut edits are making me want to scream, Dunham finally slows down and says:

"Before I was a girl, now I was a woman.I went to the polling station, I pulled back the curtain, I voted for Barack Obama."

How empowering? I know this ad is straining to be relevant with a particular demographic of undecided first-time voters but it seems to me this is going to polarize more than sway. You'll either think it's awesome because it's empowering to women, or you'll think it portrays women as being idiots who wouldn't consider voting because of larger issues at stake unless someone creates a simplistic analogy to entice them to do so.

You'll either believe that Democrats are indeed The Women's Party, or you'll think this ad has Dunham talking like a freshman that fucked a senior who still has her under his power.

Which camp are you in? But before you answer in the comments section, there's something you should know:

This ad has already been done before.

The most recent example comes from Russia. Foreign Policy blog points out the similar themed ad was done earlier this year.

"A suggestive ad rallying support for Putin's presidential campaign shows a young woman seeking a fortune-teller's advice. "Let's find out, cutie, who is intended to you by destiny," the mystic says. The girl replies, "You know. I wish it to be for love -- It is my first time."

All indications suggest that the woman is nervous about losing her virginity, but the ad's horrifying twist is revealed when the fortune-teller flips a card with a portrait of the Russian Prime Minister."

But that's not all, dear reader. Even the Republicans took this angle back in the day. Talking Points Memo points us to a Washington Post article dated November 1st, 1980 in which The Presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan made a similar if not more graphic analogy:

What Reagan was trying to do in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio was to harvest usually Democratic blue-collar votes — the consistent target of his personal campaigning in the Great Lakes states. Whenever he is near voters who might possibly be Democrats, Reagan likes to remind them that he came from that side of the political tracks.

On Thursday night, at a working class bar in Bayonne, N.J., Reagan said, “I know what it’s like to pull the Republican lever for the first time, because I used to be a Democrat myself, and I can tell you it only hurts for a minute and then it feels just great.”

And finally, there's this 1960's gem below, enticing men to avoid the draft featuring Joan Baez and her sisters.

about the author

17 year copywriter, now CD, who has worked in many cities including Pittsburgh, New York, Atlanta, Montreal and currently Los Angeles. I snark because I care. I ain't complainin' I'm just tellin' it like it is.

Comments (6)

That Joan Baez poster was copied last election too, because apparently us girls will fuck anyone who votes the way some posters tells us to think .. uh wait?

I find this particular variant of "sex sells", ie in order to convince men to vote X or do X because then girls will give them sex extremely trite, even when it is a clear homage to a bygone era where trite sexism was the norm. It's not like we all (women) sat down for a pow-wow with Lysistrata to end the Peloponnesian War. Also I'll have sex with you if I fucking want to, no other reason.

GOP the daily dose doesn't like this campaign (quelle surprise) either. I have to share this;

So she chose to do it for the first time with Barack Obama, since he “cares about and understands women.” In fact, he understands them so well that he exploits them for insane commercials comparing losing your virginity with voting. Obama has young daughters. But that didn’t stop him from releasing this commercial. Because this is what Obama thinks of your daughters. This is Obama’s official campaign ad. Paid for with his campaign money. Distributed by his campaign. If this ad were any more demeaning to women – who apparently care only about having sex, if you listen to Lena “You Want To Do It” Dunham — it would be produced by Bill Maher and star Bill Clinton.

Oh, wait. That’s Obama’s actual campaign.

First it was Big Bird. Then it was binders. Then it was bayonets. Now it’s about birth control.

According to Barack Obama, this campaign isn’t about the economy. Or foreign policy. It’s about free birth control as advocated by unbelievably wealthy celebrities. If Obama goes any smaller in this campaign, we’re going to need a microscope to find him.

And God knows that women don’t want to have sex – er, vote – with a small candidate.

Except on TLC and Bravo, where the weddings are elaborate, and apparently only on TV. Granted there's only one incumbent but his entire "support" of gay marriage has basically been nothing more than to say "my opinion is evolving."

Everything about this rubs me the wrong way. She should be ashamed of herself and so should the Obama administration for pandering to first time voters in such a condescending, moth-eaten way. Understand I don't even care about the politics, I'm just talking purely from an ad standpoint. One year the guy gives us hope and change which was at least timely and original, and this time he makes a losing my virginity joke?